In an online survey with two cohorts (2009 and 2011) of undergraduates in dating relationships, we examined how attachment was related to communication technology use within romantic relationships. Participants reported on their attachment style and frequency of in-person communication as well as phone, text messaging, social network site (SNS), and electronic mail usage with partners. Texting and SNS communication were more frequent in 2011 than 2009. Attachment avoidance was related to less frequent phone use and texting, and greater email usage. Electronic communication channels (phone and texting) were related to positive relationship qualities, however, once accounting for attachment, only moderated effects were found. Interactions indicated texting was linked to more positive relationships for highly avoidant (but not less avoidant) participants. Additionally, email use was linked to more conflict for highly avoidant (but not less avoidant) participants. Finally, greater use of a SNS was positively associated with intimacy/support for those higher (but not lower) on attachment anxiety. This study illustrates how attachment can help to explain why the use of specific technology-based communication channels within romantic relationships may mean different things to different people, and that certain channels may be especially relevant in meeting insecurely attached individuals’ needs.

Okay, maybe there is not an official disorder called “Instant Communication Disorder,” but there might as well be. Have you checked if anyone’s liked your Facebook status in the past two minutes? Have you sent a tweet in the last three minutes? Have you pinned your latest recipe yet? Is your instant messaging account always logged in? If you’re still using that antiquated system called email, do you waste hours sorting emails when you could be accomplishing more productive tasks, or heaven forbid, speaking to people directly?

Welcome to the 21st century and the culture of instantaneous response. Rapid advances in technology and associated platforms have given rise to instant communication. It is now possible to be in contact with anyone, anywhere, anytime, and at an instant. And the best part is that so many of these mediums are free, if you don’t count the cost of your internet connection or device. With the right tools, you can even see the person as you instantly communicate with them. The explosion of mobile devices, driven primarily by the iPhone, has only exacerbated this new behavioral culture and driven our need for instantaneous responses to an all new level.

With the rise of cheaper, consumer-level technology that can allows us to instantly communicate with each other, are our collective brains being re-wired for instantaneous responses from those we communicate with? And to extend this further, do people out there actually think that liking a status update or sending a random tweet counts as human communication?

The final scene of “The Social Network” has the fictional Mark Zuckerberg sending a Facebook friend request to his ex-girlfriend and then continuing to refresh the page to see if she accepted. This scene perfectly encapsulates the new instantaneous response culture in which we find ourselves today. In the good old days in this scenario, we either would have picked up the phone or moved on. Today, we can send out friend requests, instant messages and tweets, and the other person can either respond kindly or totally ignore us. Either way, the communication, although instant, is neither substantive nor definitive. This lack of substance in our communication has ultimately led us to the ultimate irony: despite having the tools to communicate better than ever before in history, we are more cut off from having substantial connections with each other than ever before. And worse, some of us are addicted to our devices and social media platforms to the point that it can interfere with normal human interaction.

The advantage of instant communication is that it allows people to stay in contact with more people they know more of the time, despite the distance. The disadvantage of instant communication is that it is highly addictive and breeds superficial connections. As our society adjusts to this technology, and we are only at the beginning of this cycle, one can only hope that we don’t let it consume our lives. I don’t necessarily have any answers to address these issues other than to suggest that it can be good for your mental health to look up from your device every now and then and spend some quality time in the real world around you.

This study examines the effect of 3D virtual worlds on an individual’s communication experience in comparison with Face-to-Face communications (FtFCs). Using 2 × 2 posttest only group design where subjects were asked to discuss over a given topic. This study investigated whether individuals’ different personality characteristics (i.e. shyness) influence communication experiences (i.e. communication apprehension). The data suggest that shy individuals felt less of communication apprehension during the discussion conducted online than FtFC. On the other hand, FtFC turned out to be more effective in influencing individuals’ intention to change behavior compared to virtual worlds. The results suggest that lack of visual/auditory cues in virtual reality is the major factor that influenced the outcome.

In a survey, 64 percent of teens confessedthat they used “techspeak” from texting or online communication in writing assignments at school.

Will text messaging and social networking harm our writing skills? Social Times has more in a detailed infographic:

A recent study suggests that the more kids text, the less they learn about proper grammar. Widespread use of social media sites and text messaging tools has given rise to a hybrid language called “techspeak” that’s riddled with acronyms and abbreviations instead of words and numbers instead of letters. This, we knew. But because students between the ages of 13 and 17 send twice as many messages as people in any other age group, “techspeak” is more likely to creep into their school assignments and give others the wrong impression about their communication skills.

The rising popularity of the image in social media has further transformed the way we share our lives with one another.

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“This is a watershed time where we are moving away from photography as a way of recording and storing a past moment,” said Robin Kelsey, a professor of photography at Harvard, and we are “turning photography into a communication medium.”

Not surprisingly, the largest social networking companies are spending billions of dollars to be the place where consumers latch onto these visual nods. They know the stakes. While it might seem that Yahoo’s Flickr, Facebook, which also owns Instagram, and Twitter are fighting to become the ultimate online photo album or video vault, these companies are really fighting to provide the service for the newest way to communicate. If they miss that shift, they risk irrelevancy....

"So isn’t this all bad for society? Another blow for the English language where children won’t even bother to communicate in LOL-speak anymore?

“We’re tiptoeing into a potentially very deep and interesting new way of communicating,” said Mitchell Stephens, author of “The Rise of the Image, the Fall of the Word,” and a journalism professor at New York University. “And as with anything, when you tiptoe in, you start in the shallow waters.”

Because of the social media revolution and electronic communication revolution, what is being taught in a typical business course should be changing. In this presentation, you'll learn the answers to these questions:

(1) What types of social media and electronic communication should be taught in a business communication course today?, (2) What should instructors be teaching about social media and electronic communication?, (3) What are the best ways to teach social media and electronic communication effectively, and (4) What resources are recommended for teaching social media and electronic communication?

Expert Speaker: Courtland Bovee, one of America's leading instructors in clear and effective communication, coauthors (with John Thill) the world's leading textbooks in business communication. Professor Bovee's specialty is social media and electronic communication.

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